‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Queens Tease Campy, Filthy Spinoff Series

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RuPaul's Drag Race UK

The success of RuPaul’s Drag Race didn’t happen over night. It took ten long years of death drops and lip syncs for the show to become the cultural phenomenon that it is today, a show that snatches wigs and Emmys. Now legendary supermodel of the world RuPaul has her sights set on global domination. Step one: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

This isn’t the first international spinoff in Drag Race herstory. That honor goes to South America’s The Switch Drag Race and Drag Race Thailand. But the franchise’s trek across the pond differs from those two in one major way: this spinoff has RuPaul. Yes, honey, that’s why the show is called RuPaul’s Drag Race UK! By Ru’s side on this jaunt are legendary judge Michelle Visage and a pair of local boys ready to roll: Graham Norton and Alan Carr.

The hotly anticipated competition show has assembled 10 of the biggest deals in British drag and will pit them against each other in a battle for the Drag Race crown jewels. Decider was pleased as punch to spill the tea with the queens at DragCon NYC, where the cast became an international sensation while meeting new fans. We got to learn all about the origins of English drag, the filthy meaning of “tuppence,” and got a preview of the campy delights that await viewers.

Cheryl Hole: Not ‘Share A Hole,’ that’s what everybody seems to think it is.

Blu Hydrangea: Although maybe later. [Laughs]

Cheryl Hole: We could share a hole?

Blu Hydrangea: Don’t tell my fiancé that! Well, I love a good cartoon character. Like obviously Muppets. Today we’ve got Jim Henson. A lot of things, though, like the people around me, inspire me a lot. I’ve learned a lot from being on the show and stuff, and meeting all these queens. You always grow, and that’s the best part about drag, right?

Blu Hydrangea: And every time she says that, I’m like,”That is exactly it!” But my word is gonna be camp, because I mean, “camp.” The Met Gala! But the real Met Gala.

Crystal & Vinegar Strokes

Photo: Karen Kemmerle, Shutterstock ; Illustration: Dillen Phelps

What’s your favorite bit of UK drag slang?

Crystal: I think you’re just gonna find that we’re much ruder than the American show, so you’re gonna hear a lot of new swear words. I don’t know if it’s drag slang, but we’re—

Vinegar Strokes: Yeah. There’s lots of swearing.

Crystal: —filthy, filthy ladies.

Vinegar Strokes: Filthy ladies with pretty mouths, essentially.

What’s the biggest difference between Drag Race and Drag Race UK?

Vinegar Strokes: Foreskin! Sorry. [Laughs]

Crystal: No, she’s right. UK drag is informed by the pantomime tradition, so it’s much more theatrical-based versus pageants in the US, I would say—if we have to sum it up.

Vinegar Strokes: Yeah, I think we like to get a bit more camp. We like to go for the kind of theatrical, camp moment where it’s all like putting on a show, putting on some entertainment, making people just laugh and have a good time.

Photos: World of Wonder

Who is the biggest influence on your drag?

Crystal: For me it’s like a superhero in the eighties, who is also a stripper. [Laughs]

Vinegar Strokes: Mine’s definitely kind of inspired by John Waters and really unhinged women. Kind of like Desperate Housewives meets John Waters meets Divine and that kind of stuff.

Describe RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in one word.

Vinegar Strokes: I’m gonna say “camp.”

Crystal: I’m gonna say “terrifying.”

Gothy Kendoll & Baga Chipz

Photo: Karen Kemmerle, Shutterstock ; Illustration: Dillen Phelps

What’s your favorite bit of UK drag slang?

Baga Chipz: When you watch the show you’re gonna see all of my slang. So I speak a little bit different to the rest of the girls. Most of the girls are like, [posh British accent] “Hello!” They’re like Mary Poppins or the Queen of England, and I’m more like, [cockney accent] ”’Ello mate, you alright?” I’m a bit like Adele mixed with Dick Van Dyke, and I’m very like, [cockney accent] “Let’s go to the chip shop, ya alright, mate?” I think here they say “vagina” or “pussy” and I call it a “tuppence.” So, “Oh my God, do you want to see my tuppence?” And tuppence is like an old currency back in the Victorian times, [when] Jack the Ripper would kill the prostitutes.

What’s the biggest difference between Drag Race and Drag Race UK?

Gothy Kendoll: I think the main difference between UK drag and American drag is the fact that American drag queens are in the more pageant scene where it’s all about looks, and UK drag queens come from pantomiming, being camp, and just taking the piss out of yourself.

Baga Chipz: It’s more humor, isn’t it? Humor based.

Gothy Kendoll: Just taking the piss out of yourself, that’s what you’re gonna do up in here, so that’s gonna be the difference. I think you ought to be able to laugh rather than be so serious.

Photos: World of Wonder

Who is the biggest influence on your drag?

Baga Chipz: In Britain we have someone called Kerry Katona from [the girl group] Atomic Kitten. I love Honey Boo Boo. I just love trash. I love Honey Boo Boo, I love Honey Boo Boo’s mom. I love all the Real Housewives. I love the Cock Destroyers, do you know them? “I am a Cock Destroyer!” and I love them. Yeah, I just love anyone that’s just a nutter, basically. Oh I like Mel B, as well, America’s Got Talent.

Gothy Kendoll: My influence is—

Baga Chipz: Me!

Gothy Kendoll: Absolutely not. Not today. [Laughs] Probably Grace Jones, those ’80 icons who used to just play with gender, just to say some things.

Divina de Campo & Scaredy Kat

Divina de Campo: Bin bag drag—so that’s like, you can just go out in a bin bag but as long as you’re good, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.

What’s the biggest difference between Drag Race and Drag Race UK?

Scaredy Kat: I think we’re a lot messier. Well, they are anyway. I’m not. It’s a lot more raunchy, a lot ruder.

Divina de Campo: Yeah, we’re more, like, crazy and brassy I think in the UK. People are quite polite here [in America]. You’ll get a bit offended about swearing. We’re not worried about saying fuck and shit.

Photos: World of Wonder

Who is the biggest influence on your drag?

Scaredy Kat: I get influenced mainly by cartoons, even people like Amy Winehouse—just the fact that she had a look even though it’s not drag, per se.

Divina de Campo: I’m an old school girl so it’s like Danny La Rue, Lily Savage, it’s those people. Dame Edna, you know. Those are the girls that inspired me.

The Vivienne: I do think that the UK has got a massive base of slang for drag. It’s very regional, like my accent is Scouse so I say things like, “Ewe you talking to? Ewe the fuck you talking to?” You know what i mean? And then Birmingham will have its own.

Sum Ting Wong: Oh Birmingham! Everyone has their little dialects. It’s like different words different—like, you know the word cigarettes is like “ciggy.” Do you say ciggy?

The Vivienne: We just say fag

Sum Ting Wong: We say fag and that’s not cool. When we say fag on the show, it generally means a cigarette. It doesn’t mean like another fella who likes you. Do you think [the show] will be subtitled? There’lll be like a little RuPaul compendium book that just explains what everything is. They’ll need that for Baga for sure.

What’s the biggest difference between Drag Race and Drag Race UK?

The Vivienne: Forget everything you know about Drag Race because Drag Race UK is gonna blow it out of the water. It’s slapstick, its comedy and it’s less about looking like a supermodel and more about having a fucking good time.

Sum Ting Wong: Honestly we don’t go on it to be like, “Oh My God we’re on Rupaul’s Drag Race.” We go on it because we love drag. And I think that shows and we’re all working throughout the UK anyway, so this kinda thing for us is just showcasing what we do as a job. It’s just now on telly so you can see this.

Photos: World of Wonder

Who is the biggest influence on your drag?

The Vivienne: My biggest influences are people like Cher and Disney villains like Maleficent, my mum cause she’s just a fierce fucker from—she’s actually from Wales. I’m from Wales originally but my mum is amazing. She’s a Romani traveler so she’s about this big, complete opposite of me, she’s dripping in jewels. She’s like the Welsh version of Karen Walker. She’s absolutely amazing

Sum Ting Wong: For me, my drag is like half princesses, like music, comic books, video games. Like Jesy Nelson I’ve been compared to a lot.

Describe RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in one word.

The Vivienne: “Camp.”

Sum Ting Wong: “Love.”

The Vivienne: Oh, fuck off!

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK debuts on BBC Three in the UK and WOW Presents Plus on October 3.